Benton RSS Feed

Universal Service
Furchtgott-Roth Criticizes Emphasis on E-Rate (TelecomAM)
FCC Asks Joint Board for Universal Service Recommendations
(TelecomAM)
Universal Service Support for Non-Rural Carriers that
Serve High Cost Areas (FCC)
Some Guiding Principles on the Deployment of
Advanced Telecommunications Capabilities (NTIA)

Infrastructure
Copper may remain king in communications (ChicagoTrib)
FCC to Ease Rules On Local Phone Firms For Data Networks (WSJ)
WorldCom to Announce Opening Today of Its Pan-European
Telecom Network (WSJ)

Electronic Commerce
House Reaches Compromise on Digital Copyright Law (NYT)
Congress Is Challenging State Internet Fees (NYT)
Taxdodge.com (ChiTrib)
The New Synergy (NYT)
Testing to Begin on System to Fight 'Spam' (NYT)

Television & Broadcasting
Talks With USA Show NBC's Expansion Goal (NYT)
Fast Track To Anxiety In TV News (NYT)
FCC: Committed to Diversity (WP)
PAX Net Apologizes for Ad (WP)
Paxson Pitches Diversity Plan (B&C)

Advertising
Madison Ave. Is a Hall of Mirrors (NYT)
Soap and Diaper makers Pitch to masses of Web Women (WSJ)

Antitrust
Debate Grows Over the Role An Operating System Plays (NYT)

Satellites
Bringing Intelsat Back to Earth (NYT)

Books
'Ulysses' at Top As panel Picks 100 Best Novels (NYT)

** Universal Service **

Title: Furchtgott-Roth Criticizes Emphasis on E-Rate
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Universal Service
Description: The Telecom Act "primarily wanted action for rural America, and
rural America was ignored," FCC Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth told the
International Telecard Foundation. He acknowledged the importance of
education, but said that the "rule of law is more important" and that no
matter how worthy a cause is, "government agencies should follow the laws as
written." The Telecom Act was designed to offer support for services, not
computer equipment like routers and computers, Commissioner Harold
Furchtgott-Roth. Misdirection of the funds could create a billion-dollar
market for computer equipment.

Title: FCC Asks Joint Board for Universal Service Recommendations
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Universal Service
Description: The Federal Communications Commission has asked the
Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service for recommendations on
universal service support for nonrural carriers serving high-cost regions.
The Commission said that during the next year, it will not change its
methods for determining universal service support levels: "Existing levels
of high cost support will be maintained, and consumers in high cost areas
will continue to enjoy access to affordable telephone service." The issues
referred to by the Joint Board include: 1) How to determine support for high
cost support to non-rural carriers; 2) the extent to which federal support
should be applied to the
intrastate jurisdiction; and 3) how providers should recover contributions
through rates, surcharges and other means. The FCC has asked the Joint Board
for recommendations by November 23. [See FCC item below]

Title: Universal Service Support for Non-Rural Carriers that
Serve High Cost Areas
Source: FCC
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/News_Releases/1998/nrcc8048.html
Issue: Universal Service
Description: The FCC has asked the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal
Service for recommendations related to the amount of universal service
support that non-rural telephone companies should receive for serving high
cost areas. This Commission noted that further coordination with state
regulators should provide valuable input that will enhance the development
of universal service and competition policies.

Title: Some Guiding Principles on the Deployment of
Advanced Telecommunications Capabilities
Source: NTIA
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/fccfilings/sec706.htm
Author: Larry Irving
Issue: Universal Service & Access
Description: NTIA, on behalf of the Administration, sent a letter to the FCC
offering some guiding principles on a soon to be initiated inquiry, mandated
by section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (1996 Act), into the
deployment of advanced telecommunications capabilities. [See post of entire
letter later today]

** Infrastructure **

Title: Copper may remain king in communications
Source: Chicago Tribune
http://chicagotribune.com/textversion/article/0,1492,SAV-9807200019,00.html
Author: Jon Healey
Issue: Infrastructure
Description: In the mid-90's telco's like PacTel said they would start
building the networks of the future -- fiber optic networks that would
replace existing lines. Now PacTel and others are saying the networks of the
future have been built, but they are not fiber -- they are the existing
copper wires our phones use today. With advances in technology, the industry
now believes high-speed communications and video can be sent offer
traditional phone lines. Some industry analysts think that copper can't keep
up with all the information services flowing to the home.

Title: FCC to Ease Rules On Local Phone Firms For Data Networks
Source: Wall Street Journal (A14)
http://wsj.com/
Author: WSJ Staff Reporter
Issue: Infrastructure
Description: The Federal Communications Committee is planning to ease some
competitive requirements on the nation's heavily regulated phone carriers in
an effort to encourage the development of high-speed Internet networks.
Under the new proposal, to be approved probably next month, "new high-speed
data networks won't be subject to those requirements as long as the local
carriers create separate affiliates to provide the service, FCC officials
said." The commission hopes that by requiring these networks to be created
independently, a marketplace will be established where competitors can get
off on equal footing.

Title: WorldCom to Announce Opening Today of Its Pan-European Telecom Network
Source: Wall Street Journal (A10)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Gautam Naik
Issue: Infrastructure
Description: WorldCom Inc. is expected to announce today that its nearly
2,000 mile pan-European telecommunications network, linking London,
Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris and Frankfort, is open for business. "Now a
business customer can have a video-phone on the desk of every executive in
Chicago and Frankfort," says Liam Strong, chief executive officer of
WorldCom's international unit. "We're breaking the mold." WorldCom plans to
stretch its fiber-optic system, dubbed Ulysses, to Milan Zurich and some
regions of France outside Paris.

** Electronic Commerce **

Title: House Reaches Compromise on Digital Copyright Law
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes-7/18)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/07/cyber/articles/18copyright.html
Author: Jeri Clausing
Issue: Copyright
Description: On Friday, the House Commerce Committee passed a bill that
would establish a review process to ensure that new digital prohibitions
don't trample on the "fair use' doctrines of traditional copyright law. Over
the past month the Commerce Committee has struggled to craft a "fair use"
compromise between those interests of movie and record producers and
software makers, and those of schools and libraries, "who feared they could
lose the right to do things as simple as making copies of electronic works."
Early on Friday morning, the two sides struck a deal and the Commerce
Committee, on a 41-to-0 vote, sent that version to the House floor. However,
before the House can vote on the bill, lawmakers must reconcile it with the
earlier version approved by the Judiciary Committee.

Title: Congress Is Challenging State Internet Fees
Source: New York Times (C2)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/yr/mo/biztech/articles/20tax.html
Author: David Cay Johnston
Issue: Legislation
Description: The Internet Tax Freedom Act, passed by the House last month
and moving through the Senate, would ban taxes on Internet access in all
states but eight which already collect fees on the service. The eight
states, however, would have to re-enact their legislation after passage of
the Internet Act.Frank Shafroth, policy director for the National League of
Cities, said: "All eight states have Republican governors, and for seven
it's election time this fall. And there is such incredible terror these days
when anyone accuses you of wanting to raise taxes that at most two of these
states will have the courage to re-enact their existing tax law." "That's
not a grandfather clause; that's a dead man's clause," said Eugene Gavin,
the commissioner of the Department of Revenue Services in Connecticut, one
of the eight states. The content of the bill is being heavily influenced by
lobbying by America Online, the nation's largest Internet service provider,
Mr. Shafroth says.

Title: Taxdodge.com
Source: Chicago Tribune (sec 1, p.13)
http://chicago.tribune.com
Author: John McCarron
Issue: Electronic Commerce
Description: In Commentary piece McCarron writes that the press is missing
the story of electronic commerce. If we're at the dawn of an age in which
people use computers to shop "who's going to pay for state and local taxes."
Sales taxes account for 1/3 of the tax revenues in Illinois and 1/5 of
Chicago's. Big savings could draw more and more people to online shopping
and, if it does, what will that mean for property taxes which are supported
mainly by commercial retailers? "In a better world, a national protocol
would be set up so people would pay sales taxes not according to their
method of purchase, but where they live, which is to say, at the level their
elected representatives have determined."

Title: The New Synergy
Source: New York Times (C3)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/yr/mo/biztech/digicom/20digicom.html
Author: Denise Caruso
Issue: Electronic Commerce
Description: "Synergy" is an 80's word making a strong comeback in the
digital 90's. "Boiled down, what the term describes is parking old content
in a new garage: If you liked the movie, then you'll love the TV show, the
book, the magazine piece, the video game, the soundtrack, the action
figures, the desk accessories and -- au courant! -- the Web site." The New
Synergy is about creating cross-over hits -- like a computer game spawning a
TV show and book star (i.e. Carmen Sandiego) or a video game leading to a
book and a movie and 2,000 Web sites (Lara Croft, Tomb Raider).

Title: Testing to Begin on System to Fight 'Spam'
Source: New York Times (C8)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/yr/mo/biztech/articles/20spam.html
Author: John Markoff
Issue: Internet/Email
Description: Bright Light Technologies www.brightlight.com will release a
test version of a system aimed at combating unsolicited, commercial email --
known affectionately as Spam. On some networks, Spam makes up more than 50%
of all electronic mail. Special decoy email accounts will collect spam and
copies of the messages will be blocked by a "spam wall" installed on mail
servers.

** Television & Broadcasting **

Title: Talks With USA Show NBC's Expansion Goal
Source: New York Times (C7)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/media-talk.html
Author: Bill Carter
Issue: Television Economics
Description: NBC's parent, General Electric, may want out of the volatile
television network business. Reports that GE has been in talks with cable
channel USA Networks has reignited speculation. Warren Littlefield, the
president of NBC Entertainment said that while the talks with USA did not
result in a deal "something is going to happen....whether that is a spinoff
or a joint venture or a merger of some kind, it's clear that we're going to
try to do something in the future with some other entity." The process is
the result of a goal articulated by NBC's president Robert Wright: finding
an entertainment cable channel that could provide a secondary revenue source
for programming owned by the network.

Title: Fast Track To Anxiety In TV News
Source: New York Times (C1)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/tv-producers-media.html
Author: Doreen Carvajal
Issue: Journalism
Description: The CNN/Vietnam nerve gas story has rattled television news
producers who argue that experienced correspondents preside over stories
like tough editors. The producers of the CNN story were dismissed while
veteran correspondent Peter Arnett maintained that he was simply a "face"
with minimal involvement. "Producers are the journalists who track down
impossible facts with the cunning of hunters -- booking the camera crew,
searching for sources, finding the location, writing the script, editing the
material -- and all for salaries that are usually 10 times less than what
correspondents make," Carvajal reports

Title: FCC: Committed to Diversity
Source: Washington Post (A16)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-07/20/005l-072098-idx.h...
Author: William E. Kennard (Chairman, Federal Communications Commission)
Issue: Minorities/Employment
Description: Chairman Kennard responds to a recent letter concerning the
D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals decision in which FCC's equal opportunity
employment recruiting policy to be unconstitutional. He argues that minority
employment in broadcasting has almost doubled since the 1971 implementation
of the minority outreach and recruitment policies recently overturned by the
court. "This is not about 'racial tastes,'" suggests Kennard, "it is about
inclusion, opportunity and merit." He adds, "In a nation whose strength is
the diversity of its people, broadcasting's viability depends, in part, on
its connection to all Americans."

Title: PAX Net Apologizes for Ad
Source: Washington Post (C7)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Issue: Advertising
Description: A new television service, PAX Net, that plans to offer only
non-offensive programs has already offended some people with its first print
ads. PAX Net's president Jeff Sagansky has vehemently apologized for what
many perceived homophobic wording that accused "so-called creative people
using what was once the family hour to peddle every kind of alternative
language and lifestyle to our kids."

Title: Paxson Pitches Diversity Plan
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p6)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Chris McConnell and Paige Albiniak
Issue: Diversity
Description: Last week, FCC Chairman William Kennard received at least one
suggestion from the broadcast industry on how to promote ownership
diversity. The suggestion came from broadcaster Bud Paxson who asked
commissioners for "some ownership relief in exchange for helping both
minorities and nonminorities to build new stations from unused construction
permits." Paxson's plan calls for allowing financial backers, such as his
company, to own up to 33 percent of the new broadcasters without having that
interest count toward national ownership limits. It also proposes allowing
the new entrant's station to overlap signals with a partner's station,
provided they are in different markets. The plan calls for deals among
programmers, entrants and financiers to be stuck by Dec. 1 and suggests
requiring new stations to be on the air within 12 months.

** Advertising **

Title: Madison Ave. Is a Hall of Mirrors
Source: New York Times (C1)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/recycled-ad-column.html
Author: Stuart Elliott
Issue: Advertising
Description: "Advertising is often described as holding a mirror to society.
Now more than ever, the mirror is reflecting back images of advertising,"
Stuart begins. Hoping that self-deprecation softens sales pitches,
advertising about advertising has made a big comeback in the 90's. "The idea
is to try to create a bond between the advertiser and the audience that
declares 'We're all in this together,' " said Larry Adelman, a critic of
consumer culture who is co-director of California Newsreel, a documentary
center in San Francisco. "But we keep buying. It's a hip, ironic way to
co-opt a growing public backlash against advertising's ubiquity and undercut
any impulse to think critically about it."

Title: Soap and Diaper makers Pitch to masses of Web Women
Source: Wall Street Journal (B1,B2)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Vanessa O'Connell
Issue: Online Advertising
Description: As more and more women log onto the Web, consumer-marketing
giants are hot on their heels. For example, Unilever, a firm whose brands
included Close-Up toothpaste, Lipton tea and Ragu sauce, recently struck the
largest online advertising deal ever, where it has agreed to spend at least
$50 million over the next three years promoting its products on America
Online and Microsoft's collection of sites. Also, rival Proctor & Gamble has
increased its presence on the Web by doubling to 10 the number of brands it
promotes on the Internet and spending $3 million in the second quarter on
cyberspace advertising. Ventures like these are consumer-products
manufacturers' first real efforts to sell directly to consumers on a mass
scale and, in particular, the 22 million women who now surf the World Wide Web.
Over the past two years, Web traffic by women has more than doubled and
women now account for more than 43 percent of the online population,
according to Forrester Research. "Any new medium that can help us deepen our
bonds with families and offer them new benefits is, by definition, of
tremendous interest to us," observed Denis F. Beausejour, P&G's vice
president for world-wide advertising, in a recent speech. Katherine
Borsecnik, AOL's vice president, network programming points out that "Women
have an enormous amount of purchasing power and influence, and clearly our
advertisers are focused on that."

** Antitrust **

Title: Debate Grows Over the Role An Operating System Plays
Source: New York Times (C1)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/07/biztech/articles/20microsoft.html
Author: Andrew Pollack
Issue: Antitrust
Description: Technology may be advancing too quick for anyone to predict the
future of operating systems. But "[t]he nature of the operating system, the
master program that breathes life into computer hardware, is at the heart of
the Justice Department's lawsuit accusing Microsoft Corp. of antitrust
violations," Pollack writes. Last week, Sun Microsystems announced a new
operating system called Jini which employs distributed computing to control
computer, its peripherals and other gadgets as a community of devices all
working together as a single virtual machine. The wheels of justice may be
trying to operate on a beast that evolves into a new species on the
operating table.

** Satellites **

Title: Bringing Intelsat Back to Earth
Source: Washington Post (F5, F6)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-07/20/019l-072098-idx.html
Author: Mike Mills
Issue: Satellites
Description: Conny Kulluman, recently elected director-general of Intelsat,
is eagerly planning for the privatization of the thirty-four year old global
satellite consortium. His vision includes Intelsate's transformation into a
private, publicly traded satellite company with a separate treaty
organization that would facilitate the availability of satellite service to
underdeveloped countries. While unwilling to disclose exact plans for full
privatization, Kulhman says he has goals for Intelsate's demise by 2001.

** Books **

Title: 'Ulysses' at Top As panel Picks 100 Best Novels
Source: New York Times (B1)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/books/072098best-novels.html
Author: Paul Lewis
Issue: Publishing
Description: Like Letterman's Top 10? Well, here's a list of the Top 100
books written in English this century. Top five are: 1) "Ulysses," James
Joyce, 2) "The Great Gatsby," F. Scott Fitzgerald 3) "A Portrait of the
Artist as a Young Man," James Joyce 4) "Lolita," Vladimir Nabokovan 5)
"Brave New World," Aldous Huxley. List was picked by the editorial board of
Modern Library, a division of Random House. Betsy, Rachel and I will be
comparing notes on which books 1) we have read, 2) we were supposed to read
but didn't and wrote papers on anyway and 3) (horror of horrors) we only
read the Cliff Notes version.
*********

Legislation Update
Cities fight Web sales tax break (ChiTrib)
Senators Praise E-Rate Internet Filtering Bill (TelecomAM)
House Appropriations Committee Does Not Change
FCC Funding (TelecomAM)

Mergers
Justice Clears MCI Acquisition (WP)
Justice Department Clears MCI-WorldCom Merger
After Internet Sale (TelecomAM)
Illinois Group Opposes Whitacre's Arguments for
Ameritech-SBC (TelecomAM)

International
U.S., Mexico closing In on a Telephone Deal (WSJ)

InfoTech
Integrated system separates Sprint from
competitors (ChiTrib)
Sprint Is Laying Out Details Of Plan to Revamp Network (NYT)
Smart Devices Peep Into Your Grocery Cart (NYT)
Record and CD's? How Quaint (NYT)

Radio
On the Pulse of a People: Dr. Elmer Huerta Preaches What He
Practices, Dispensing On-Air Health Advice to
Latino Communities (WP)

Disabilities
Pictures come to their senses (ChiTrib)

Lifestyles
Survey Finds TV Is Major Casualty of Net Surfing (NYT)
www.How Smart Are You.quiz (NYT)

** Legislation Update **

Title: Cities fight Web sales tax break
Source: Chicago Tribune (Sec 3, p.1)
http://chicagotribune.com/textversion/article/0,1492,ART-11643,00.html
Author: Matt Berger (Washington Bureau)
Issue: Electronic Commerce
Description: The Internet Tax Freedom Act, if passed, would grant a three to
six-year moratorium on state and local taxes on products sold over the
Internet. The measure is designed to encourage electronic commerce, but
local and state governments fear that lost store-front sales could cost them
million of dollars. The National League of Cities (NLC) estimates as much
as $15 billion in lost sales tax revenues by 2002. "The federal government
is taking away the power of local government to get revenue," said the
executive director of NLC.

Title: Senators Praise E-Rate Internet Filtering Bill
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Legislation
Description: Amid rumors of a website that will show two 18-year-olds having
sex August 4, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-AZ), Sens.
Pat Murray (D-WA), Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) and Dan Coats (R-IN) spoke on the
Senate floor in favor of S.1619, a bill that would require schools and
libraries receiving e-rate discounts to have Internet blocking and filtering
software.

Title: House Appropriations Committee Does Not Change FCC Funding
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Budget Issues/Legislation
Description: House Appropriations Committee July 15 approved a bill for
fiscal year 1999 funding for the FCC, National Telecommunications and
Information Administration (NTIA) and other agencies. The bill will cut FCC
funding by $5 million. Appropriations Committee Chairman Bob Livingston
(R-LA) is not concerned about House Commerce Committee Chairman Thomas
Biley's (R-VA) to Internet filtering language in a Dept of Labor & Dept of
Health and Human Services spending bill. Rep Livingston believes his
Committee has overlapping jurisdiction with the Commerce Committee.

** Mergers **

Title: Justice Clears MCI Acquisition
Source: Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-07/16/179l-071698-idx.html
Author: Mike Mills
Issue: Mergers/Telephony
Description: Yesterday the Justice Department approved the $37 billion
acquisition of MCI Communications Corp. by WorldCom Inc. The Federal
Communications Commission will now rule on weather the "public interest"
will be served by the merger. Consumer groups worry about the merger's
effect on MCI and WorldCom's commitment to residential service. While
WorldCom has pledged to "not abandon MCI's residential long-distance
customers," senior official have expressed the company's desire to
exclusively focus on the more lucrative business market.

Title: Justice Department Clears MCI-WorldCom Merger After Internet Sale
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Merger
Description: The US Department of Justice has approved the merger of long
distance companies MCI and WorldCom. MCI, in the biggest merger divestiture
ever, sold its remaining Internet business to gain the approval. "The merger
as it was originally proposed would have given WorldCom/MCI a significant
proportion of the nation's Internet traffic, giving the company the ability
to cut off or reduce the quality of Internet services that it provided to
its rivals," said Justice Department Antitrust Chief Joel Klein. "The
divestiture benefits anyone who relies on the Internet because it preserves
competition among major Internet service providers." The Federal
Communications Commission must still approve the deal; that approval is
expected later this month.

Title: Illinois Group Opposes Whitacre's Arguments for Ameritech-SBC
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Mergers
Description: The Illinois Partnership for Fair Telecommunications Policy
(IPFTP) cited a June complaint filed with the California utility regulatory
commission by the state's Office of Ratepayer Advocacy alleging Pacific Bell
(a subsidiary of SBC) is engaging in major and systematic residential
service marketing abuses. IPFTP says the effect of the SBC-PacTel merger is
evidence of why the Ameritech merger should be denied. Also, former Illinois
Commerce Commission Chairman Ellen Craig, now regulatory affairs vice
president for USN Communications, is suggesting that the ICC direct
Ameritech, SBC and new entrants to come to competition agreements as part of
the merger review. The ICC's rules allow for up to 11 months to review the
merger. [See more SBC-Ameritech stories at
http://www.benton.org/Library/State/media.html]

** International **

Title: U.S., Mexico closing In on a Telephone Deal
Source: Wall Street Journal (A12)
http://wsj.com/
Author: Jonathan Friedland
Issue: Long-Distance/International
Description: Javier Lozano, Mexico's new telecommunications czar, says he
has figured out a way to solve the dispute among Mexican and U.S.
long-distance carriers. In an interview. Lozano said that Telefonos de Mexico
SA (Telmex), Mexico's dominant carrier, and companies controlled by AT&T and
MCI, Avantel SA and Alestra SA, are in basic agreement on the terms of the
accord that will assure "clean and efficient competition." The accord, in a
nutshell, would substantially reduce the charges other carriers pay to
interconnect with Telmex and would largely do away with a 58 percent
surcharge embedded in those charges that was designed to help the former
monopoly meet obligations to provide service to Mexicans living in rural
areas." In exchange, Avantel and Alestra would partly reimburse Telmex for
the $422 million cost of improving its infrastructure which the new carriers
use to provide their services on a nationwide basis. Mr. Lozano hopes to
formally announce the accord by next month.

** InfoTech **

Title: Integrated system separates Sprint from competitors
Source: Chicago Tribune (Sec 3, p.3)
http://chicago.tribune.com
Author: Jon Van
Issue: Telephone
Description: At Internet World 98, in Chicago this week, Sprint is touting
its new Integrated On-demand Network (ION) which will provide voice, video,
and data services over one line. ION will be available to large businesses
in Chicago, New York and five other cities by the end of the year; smaller
businesses and some homes could enjoy the service as soon as late 1999. "The
other guys pay too much attention to the `last mile' problem of connecting
their networks to customers," said William T. Esrey, chairman of Sprint.
"But they haven't thought enough about what happens on their network. That's
where we're focused."

Title: Sprint Is Laying Out Details Of Plan to Revamp Network
Source: New York Times (D7)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/07/biztech/articles/16sprint.html
Author: Seth Schiesel
Issue: Telephony
Description: Last month Sprint Corp. announced a program to revamp its
communications to provide integrated data and video information at high
speeds. Since that time it has made deals with Ameritech, BellSouth GTE and
SBC Communications to use those local companies' fiber optic networks within
cities. Sprint is continuing to try and negotiate deals with other large
competitive local phone providers, like AT&T's Teleport unit and WorldCom's
MFS operation, and the remaining Bell local phone companies. Sprint's
Chairman, William Esrey, said in an interview last week that the deals with
existing local phone companies could allow Sprint to reach 70 percent of its
target business customers. Sprint plans to begin offering large companies
access to the integrated network later this year and make the service
generally available to business customers near the middle of next year and
to consumers late in 1999.

Title: Smart Devices Peep Into Your Grocery Cart
Source: New York Times (E3)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/07/circuits/articles/16geek.html
Author: Steven E. Brier
Issue: New Technology
Description: By using a combination of so-called loyalty cards, radio
frequency identification, smart cards and smart shopping carts, grocery
stores are working to personalize the shopping experience and provide the
shopper with more information while increasing sales. Some stores are using
electronic shelf cards to display price information. Others are using kiosks
with scanners so a customer can check on the price of an item of which they
are unsure. Shelf tags can be programmed to offer nutritional information
along with the price. And shopping carts are being developed that can scan
items placed in the cart so the shopper can keep a running tab, and the cart
can offer suggestions for other items, based on selections already made.
"This is all about providing more customer service in order for retailers to
gain a competitive advantage," said Ralph Martino, an IBM executive helping
the supermarkets with the technology. "Stores want to capture more of the
wallet share by being more knowledgeable about the customer." (What would
Mr. Whipple say now?)

Title: Record and CD's? How Quaint
Source: New York Times (B1,B6)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/yr/mo/cyber/articles/16downloading-musi
c.html
Author: Jon Pareles
Issue: E-Commerce
Description: Electronic distribution is a big topic at Plug In '98, a
conference on music in the digital era taking place in NYC this weekend. If
transferring music over the Internet continues to increase in popularity,
eventually, home music collections could become obsolete and stores could
see their role reduced as consumers are able bypass the middlemen and access
music from central archives upon demand. Mark Mooradian, group director of
consumer content for Jupitor Communications, one of the groups organizing
the conference, says that Jupitor thinks record labels should aggressively
pursue digitally downloaded music. "He said digital distribution should be
important for its marketing value, to combat piracy and to reposition labels
as retail outlets." Individual musicians and independent labels see this
form of distribution as a way to deliver music directly to the listener.
"Record companies have a lock right now on how an artist can get music out
to a global audience," said Larry Rosen, the chairman of N2K, which owns the
online retail site of Music Boulevard as well as its own N2K label, which
makes some of its songs available for digital downloading. "With electronic
distribution of music, there's a break in that kind of power structure."

Title: Videophones, Evolve, Slowly
Source: New York Times (E1,E7)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/07/circuits/articles/16vide.html
Author: Ian Austen
Issue: Telephony
Description: While the world's fist videophone was introduced by AT&T over
1964, companies are just begriming to realize that there are serious limits
to the market ably of this "Star Treck" technology. Today's videophone
technologies include both television-based and computer-based systems. "We
are very realistic: it's not a mass-market product," says Dainel Flohr of
C-Phone, a videophone manufacturer. "Everyone's not going to run out and get
one." Psychological barriers appear to be an important deferent to
mass-market success. "People who don't use videophones are worried about
having their privacy invaded", says Professor Mantei Tremaine who has
studied videophones for more than nine years, "People who did use them
feared they were invading someone else's privacy."

** Radio **

Title: On the Pulse of a People: Dr. Elmer Huerta Preaches What He
Practices, Dispensing On-Air Health Advice to Latino Communities
Source: Washington Post (C1, C10)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-07/16/232l-071698-idx.html
Author: Nicholas Day
Issue: Health/Minorities/Radio
Description: Dr. Elmer Huerta, founder and director of the Cancer Risk
Assessment and Screening Center at the Washington Hospital Center, is
probably sole carrier of the title 'national latino heath celebrity'.
Huerta's daily 2 minute health announcements, which air on radio stations
across the US and in 21 Latin American countries, attempt to provide the
latino community with simple prevention techniques that can help people
avoid or detect cancer and other serious deceases. The idea of using
broadcast media to disseminate his message came to Dr. Huerta is his native
Peru when he noticed that people knew little about health, but a lot about
soap operas and Top 40 music,"They were exposed to the media," he
says,"that's what clicked in my mind."

** Disabilities **

Title: Pictures come to their senses
Source: Chicago Tribune (Sec 3, p.1)
http://chicagotribune.com/textversion/article/0,1492,ART-11921,00.html
Author: Jeff Coen
Issue: Disabilities
Description: Captioning and video description -- services available to some
disabled people watching television -- is coming to General Cinema movie
theaters. "With this system, I got everything and had the same rich
experience as anyone else," said one user. "This means independence for me."
The technology was developed by Boston public television station WGBH in
cooperation with California's Digital Theater Systems. For now, Genera
Cinema is viewing the deployment of the technology "the right thing to do"
rather than a money-making venture. The DuPage Center for Independent Living
estimates that 2% of the population in the Chicago area suffer from vision
or hearing impairments.

** Lifestyles **

Title: Survey Finds TV Is Major Casualty of Net Surfing
Source: New York Times (E3)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/07/circuits/articles/16ugee.html
Author: Matt Richtel
Issue: Internet Use
Description: A recent survey by Strategis Group, a Washington-based research
firm that studies patterns in telecommunications use, has found that
cyberspace is stealing time from watching TV, working, sleeping and
exercise. But the activity being most effected is television- and
VCR-watching. Of 500 Net users surveyed, nearly 65 percent said they had
sacrificed time in front of the television for time in front of the
computer. Forty-eight percent reported they spent less time reading and 29
percent said they slept less. What does this mean? According to John
Zahurancik, director of Internet and telephony at Strategis Group, said the
findings show that "The Net is becoming a mainstream medium. It is a
competition to all these other traditional sources of entertainment." Allen
Goldberg, vice president for business development at Relevant Knowledge, a
research company based in Atlanta, points out that it took 40 years for
radio to gain 50 million domestic listeners and 13 years for television and
cable TV to acquire the same number of viewers. While Goldberg acknowledges
that the population is larger now, he said it is noteworthy that it has
taken only four years for the Web to reach the same plateau.

Title: www.How Smart Are You.quiz
Source: New York Times (E1,E7)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/07/circuits/articles/16quiz.html
Author: Katie Hafner
Issue: Internet Use/Lifestyle
Description: The Internet has become a breeding ground for thousands of
tests you can administer to yourself. These tests range in everything from
questions purported to test your intelligence and emotional stability, to
your predisposition towards hypochondria, alcoholism, attention deficit
disorder, etc. The interesting thing is that many people seem to enjoy
taking these tests "created by psychometricians, professional and
otherwise." But there is something (how's that for an ambiguous word?)
alluring about these optional tests that will rank you in terms of your
genius or lovability. There are already a number of quizzes available in
magazines, on the radio and television. And with such tests now available on
the Web, there are "no visible proctors or stopwatches, and no one to raise
an eyebrow at your response to a question on sexual habits. For instance,
you might scoff a Mensa, the organization of self-anointed geniuses, but it
is hard to turn down the chance to spend three minutes on a test to see if
you would be admitted."
*********

Universal Service
Bliley Asks Appropriations Panel to Pull Filtering Bill
(TelecomAM)

Education/Gender
Computer Classes Show Gender Gap (WP)

Campaign Reform
Not a Danger to Free Speech (WP)

Email
Various Firms, Groups to Offer Ways To Curb Unsolicited E-Mail
on Internet (WSJ)

Merger
MCI Reported To Be Near Full Internet Sale (NYT)
Cable & Wireless, MCI Reach Deal (WP)

Lifestyles
On the Heels of Soccer's World Cup and Baseball's All-Star Game,
A Big Pitch Begins for the N.F.L. (NYT)

** Universal Service **

Title: Bliley Asks Appropriations Panel to Pull Filtering Bill
Source: Telecom AM
http://capitol.cappubs.com/am/
Issue: E-Rate/Censorship
Description: "House Commerce Committee Chairman Thomas Bliley (R-VA) asked
the House Appropriations Committee yesterday not to consider Internet
filtering language at its mark-up of Labor-HHS funding legislation today,
saying 'constitutional and administrative' issues have been raised. The
amendment, by Rep. Ernest Istook (R-OK), would require recipients of e-rate
funds to block out 'obscene' online material and set up mechanisms for
revolking funding if schools or libraries failed to do so. The
Appropriations Labor-HHS Subcommittee approved the measure late last month."
In a letter to the House Appropriations Committee Chairman, Bob Livingsont
(R-LA), Bliley said that such policy questions are "outside of the
appropriations process." He also said that Istook's proposed solution
"raises several difficult constitutional and administrative questions, all
of which the Commerce Committee is presently reviewing."

** Education/Gender **

Title: Computer Classes Show Gender Gap
Source: Washington Post (B1,B5)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/digest/local1.htm/
Author: Victoria Bening
Issue: Education/Gender
Description: A recent report, prepared by the Fairfax School Board's Human
Relations Advisory Committee, shows that girls only make up 26 percent of
the students in computer science classes at Fairfax County high schools. The
alarming gender gap in Fairfax mirrors a national trend of young female
underepresentation in high-tech classes. The Fairfax study found that
minorities also are underepresented in computer science classes. School
officials are very concerned about these findings and are working to
develop strategies to reverse this trend. According to the report, "the
effects of these course choices, which often become career choices, can be
seen in a lifetime of lower earnings and lower retirement benefits for a
majority of women." Fairfax School Superintendent Daniel A. Domenech said
that "We need to expose more girls and minorities to these kinds of courses
and the benefits of pursuing these kinds of studies."

** Campaign Reform **

Title: Not a Danger to Free Speech
Source: Washington Post (Op-Ed, A15)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-07/14/013l-071498-idx.htm
Author: Thomas E. Mann(Brookings Institution) and Norman J.Ornstein(American
Enterprise Institute)
Issue: Campaign Reform
Description: In disagreement with the ACLU's position on
McCain-Feingold/Shays-Meehan legislation, the authors assert that regulation
of "issue advocacy" ads will not pose a threat to the free speech of any
individual or group. In response to ACLU charges that the bill would
"establish limits that effectively bar any individual or organization from
explicitly criticizing a public official -- perhaps the single most
important type of free speech in our democracy -- when the official is up
for reelection within 60 days," the authors claim that the bill would do no
such thing. "At most, under certain circumstances, it will have to disclose
its expenditures for communications and the source of financing and refrain
from serving as a conduit for corporate or union funds. In other words if
they engage in electioneering near the election, they will have to play by
the same rules governing independent expenditures as everyone else".

** Email **

Title: Various Firms, Groups to Offer Ways To Curb Unsolicited E-Mail on
Internet
Source: Wall Street Journal (B6)
http://wsj.com/
Author: John Simons
Issue: Email
Description: A group of technology companies and consumer groups will
recommend ways to stem the flow of unsolicited commercial email on the
Internet to the Federal trade Commission today. The proposal represents the
"first broad agreement of the issue between Internet service providers and
companies that distribute the global network's nagging junk-mail
equivalent." The companies and groups, which include, America Online Inc.,
International Business Machines Corp., Microsoft Corp., and the Center for
Democracy and Technology, a Washington-based technology advocacy group, will
recommend "a program of industry self-regulation to control commercial email
combined with some oversight by the FTC."

** Merger **

Title: MCI Reported To Be Near Full Internet Sale
Source: New York Times (D1,D4)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/07/biztech/articles/14mci-interne...
Author: Seth Schiesel
Title: Cable & Wireless, MCI Reach Deal
Source: Washington Post (C1,C2)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-07/14/063l-071498-idx.html
Author: Mike Mills
Issue: Mergers
Description: MCI Communications Sorp. is close to reaching an agreement to
sell its entire Internet business to Cable and Wireless PLC for about
$1.5-$2 billion is cash, said executives close to the negotiations
yesterday. A deal between the two companies is expected to be announced
later this week. MCI is selling all of its Internet assets, valued at $2
billion, as a result of the European Union's concerns that the two companies
combined would have unfair control of Internet traffic. The deal would clear
the way for the Justice Dept. to approve the $37 billion acquisition of MCI
by WorldCom Inc.

** Lifestyles **

Title: On the Heels of Soccer's World Cup and Baseball's All-Star Game,
A Big Pitch Begins for the N.F.L.
Source: New York Times (D6)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/nfl-ad-column.html
Author: Stuart Elliott
Issue: Sports Lifestyles
Description: Since our nation definitely needs more advertising to stimulate
its appetite for National Football League games, the annual advertising
offensive will begin almost two months earlier than usual and involve almost
four times as many promotional commercials as before. The increased exposure
for the NFL's sales pitch are a result of the league's super-lucrative
contract with the broadcast and cable television networks for the 1998-99
season. "Our network partners are giving us a significant amount of
additional time" to help "manage an ongoing dialogue with our fan base,"
said Howard Handler senior vice president for marketing and fan development
at NFL Properties in NY. "The message we want to send through everything is
that the NFL provides a thrill ride," Handler said, "an adrenaline-charged
roller coaster ride." [KAPOW...BLAM...SPLAT...ZAP...SWACK (add your favorite
font) -- ahhhhh, the American dream]

*********

Telecom Act of 1996
Appeals Court Hears Telecom Act Appeal (TelecomAM)

Mergers
Ohio PUC Asked to Begin SBC-Ameritech Merger Review
(TelecomAM)
Illinois Schedules Workshop on SBC-Ameritech Merger
(TelecomAM)

Bandwidth
FCC Hears Disputes Over Broadband Deployment at
En Banc Hearing (TelecomAM)

Internet
Domain Names as Intellectual Property (CyberTimes)
Booking the Future (WP)

Television
Afghan Rulers Planning to Smash TV Sets (NYT)

Advertising
Advertisers Aggressively Court Hispanic Consumers (NYT)

Journalism
Journalism Goes Hollywood, and Hollywood Is Reading (NYT)

** Telecom Act of 1996 **

Title: Appeals Court Hears Telecom Act Appeal
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Telecom Act of 1996
Description: Baby Bell SBC is challenging the constitutionality of the
Telecommunications Act of 1996. Specifically, SBC is arguing that Sections
271-75 of the 1996 Act constitute a bill of attainder, which is an
unconstitutional use of legislative power to single out individuals for
punishment. Assistant Attorney Gen. Joel Klein argued the Government's side
before the 5th U.S. Appeals Court's Judge Grady Jolly saying the sections
are "forward-looking regulation" rather than a bill of attainder. AAG Klein
also said that the provisions -- which create the process by which Bells are
allowed into the long distance market -- could not be seen as punishment
since the Bells are better off under the 1996 Act than the AT&T consent
decree which barred them from providing long distance service. Laurence
Tribe, arguing for SBC, said that's not true because Judge Greene -- who had
jurisdiction over the consent degree -- could have lifted the consent decree
or offered waivers while the Bell Companies now are under the FCC's thumb
forever. Mr. Tribe said that even if there wasn't punishment, the 1996 Act
still would violates the separation of powers provisions of the Constitution.

** Mergers **

Title: Ohio PUC Asked to Begin SBC-Ameritech Merger Review
Illinois Schedules Workshop on SBC-Ameritech Merger
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Mergers
Description: The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) and the
Edgemont Neighborhood Coalition of Dayton, an Ohio consumer group
representing low-income persons, have petitioned the Ohio Public Utilities
Commission (PUC) to immediately open an investigation into the proposed
merger of Ameritech into SBC Communications, TelecomAM reports. The groups
oppose the merger and argue that SBC and Ameritech both have a record of
"bad attitudes" toward competition and the public interest. The groups
believe that the merger threatens competition and would mean higher prices
and reduced quality of service. The groups want the PUC to begin a
proceeding now so that there is time to gather evidence and hold hearings.
They fear a delay that could cause a "rush to judgement" that won't
allow time for thorough review. On July 9, TelecomAM reported that the
Illinois Commerce Commission will hold a workshop on the merger on July 14.
[Additional information and a link to the agenda for the meeting can be
found at http://icc.state.il.us/icc/News/PR/98/0708.htm] Ohio, Illinois
and Indiana are the three Ameritech states whose approval is needed for
merger completion.

** Bandwidth **

Title: FCC Hears Disputes Over Broadband Deployment at En Banc Hearing
Source: Telecom AM
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
Issue: Bandwidth/Infrastructure
Description: "Broadband is the next great frontier for telecommunications
policy," said FCC Chairman at an en banc meeting of the Commission July 9.
As cable, wireless and common carriers begin to offer similar services to
customers, the FCC must address the separate regulations that govern each
section of the telecom industry. A majority of the industry executives at
meeting offered this advise to the Commission: 1) hold incumbent carriers to
the 14-point checklist in the Telecom Act for entry into the long distance
market, 2) reject the Baby Bells' requests for relief under Section 706 of
the Telecom Act, 3) take minimal actions to encourage the marketplace to
develop new services to meet the increasing demands for broadband access,
and 4) assure that all competitors get access to facilities at the same
prices as incumbents.

** Internet **

Title: Domain Names as Intellectual Property
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/07/cyber/articles/10domain.html
Author: Jerry Clausing
Issue: Domain Names
Description: The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva
announced this week that it will begin formulating recommendations on the
"contentious trademark issues associated with Internet domain names. The
WIPO has issued a request for comments on how to balance the rights of
trademark holders against the general public, and how to establish an
international dispute resolution process for parties fighting over rights to
coveted Internet domain names."

Title: Booking the Future
Source: Washington Post (A1,A20)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-07/10/160l-071098-idx.html
Author: David Streitfeld
Issue: E-Commerce
Description: There seems to be no stopping the online book giant,
Amazon.com, who's stock closed at $105.5 yesterday, up from only $11 a year
ago. Despite predictions that computers would kill traditional publishing,
it is old-fashion books that are the Internet's hottest items. "Those of us
that like post modern ironic humor really appreciate the fact that the most
successful e-commerce is the product that this medium was supposed to
eliminate," said Amazon Vice President Rick Ayre. With the advantage of
being able to order books only when customers want them and having no fixed
costs for real estate or employees, Amazon poses a real threat to
independent booksellers and superstores alike. Online booksellers are the
"future of publishing" according to Random House editor Jason Epstein. "The
present system is extremely inefficient, especially for the more specialized
kind of book that can't easily be identified or categorized by the chain
stores' computers." Epstein adds, "It's increasingly difficult to publish
those books, because it's hard to put them in the hands of their potential
readers. As the Internet evolves, it will begin to solve that problem."

** Television **

Title: Afghan Rulers Planning to Smash TV Sets
Source: New York Times (A7)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/world/afghanisan.html
Author: Barbara Crossette
Issue: Television
Description: The people of Afghanistan have 15 days to get rid of their
televisions, VCRs, video tapes, and satellite dishes. The country's Minister
for the Prevention of Vice and the Promotion of Virtue has said that
television and video are "the cause of corruption in this society." Leonard
Sussman, a scholar of international communications at Freedom House, says
the Afghan rulers are "killing urban communication. It is really a reversion
to a primitive lifestyle. This is about the worst for one special reason:
[other countries] demand absolute control of the content of broadcasting.
But no other country wipes out the delivery system."

** Advertising **

Title: Advertisers Aggressively Court Hispanic Consumers
Source: New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/hispanics-ad-column.html
Author: Carol Marie Cropper
Issue: Advertising
Description: According to Hispanic Business Magazine, advertisers spend $1.4
billion trying to reach Spanish-speaking and bilingual Hispanic consumers
last year. That amount represents four times the total spent in 1985 and
more than double the 1990 total. The number remains less than 1% of the
total $186.8 billion spent on advertising in 1997. "People are beginning to
recognize that the Hispanic population is very large," said Dolores Kunda,
director of Hispanic marketing at Leo Burnett USA and a board member of the
Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies. "The Hispanic population is as
large as the population of Canada," she said, referring to the perhaps 30
million people of Hispanic descent now living in the nation. 1995 census
figures estimated the Hispanic population at just under 10% of the US total.
The Census Bureau predicts that will rise to over 11% in 2000 and to nearly
14% by 2010 -- replacing blacks as the largest minority.

** Journalism **

Title: Journalism Goes Hollywood, and Hollywood Is Reading
Source: New York Times (C5)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/mags-movies.html
Author: James Sterngold
Issue: Journalism
Description: Journalism and Hollywood are melding as magazine articles have
become "the source du jour for movies." The trend has the potential to warp
journalistic principles and to create conflicts of interest within media
conglomerates. "The journalist is focused on the economic demands, not on
the demands of the information he or she is working with," said Bill Kovach,
the director of Harvard University's Nieman Foundation. New Journalism -- a
school in which writers are given more license to re-create scenes -- has
oriented many publications toward compelling yarns rather than dry
expositions of fact. These yarns are what is attracting movie studios.
Hollywood loves magazine stories, he said, because "they have a whiff of
authenticity" and that legitimizes the story ideas.
*********
...and we're outta here.
Go France! Go Brazil! - World Cup wrap-up frenzy - rah!yah!rah!